How Are the Mighty Fallen!

There have been massive changes in the practice of public relations since I first joined the PR firm of Makovsky + Company more than ten years ago. Back then, most major cities had two or three local newspapers. Today, many are down to just one, as Ken Makovsky has described in his recent “My Three Cents” blog… and it’s at risk of folding.

On March 16, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last print edition, leaving the biggest city in the state of Washington, with just one daily newspaper, The Seattle Times. The 146-year-old Seattle P-I will live on in a digital version as a “news and information portal.”

The struggling U.S. newspaper industry must be waiting with bated breath. Who’s next?

Just a week, content provider 24/7 Wall St. released a list of the 10 most endangered major daily newspapers. Based on an analysis of the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition they face in their markets and their financial losses, these are the newspapers likeliest to fold or begin publishing an online edition only … many within the next 18 months!

1. Philadelphia Daily News
2. Star Tribune
3. The Miami Herald
4. The Detroit News
5. The Boston Globe
6. San Francisco Chronicle
7. Chicago Sun-Times
8. New York Daily News
9. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
10. The Plain Dealer

I’m a big believer in consumer-generated media and the importance of citizen journalists as investigators and whistleblowers — but as a public relations consultant and a citizen, I certainly would hate to lose the professionals of the Fourth Estate.



Technorati Tags: media crisis, newspapers, journalism, 24/7 Wall St., Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Times, Philadelphia Daily News, Star Tribune, Miami Herald, Detroit News, Boston Globe,San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Daily News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Makovsky + Company, PR firm, Ken Makovsky, My Three Cents